Spring Hill
by shark-princess
Summary: After a bad incident at home, Shun leaves Japan on an unplanned trip to Russia to see the one he really needs. Fluffy Shun/Alice story. Hope that those with childhood feels like it :) (originally a one-shot)
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Soooooooooo I posted this on Archive of our Own a while ago and some people seemed to like it (mainly because there weren't really that many Bakugan fanfics on there anyway) and so I decided to post it here for no real reason. It was originally a one-shot, but I added on extra chapters because someone requested it. For now, I'm going to leave it in the One-Shot way that I left it, and if someone really really, _really_ wants those extra chapters (which aren't even finished, mind you), then I'll think of adding them on... **

**Anyhow, this is it. Enjoy! ^^**

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It was a lovely spring day. The sky was a bright blue near to the color of cyan, dotted with only the smallest of white, fluffy clouds. The sun was out, not too bright but not too dark, casting it's golden yellow light over Moscow. The tall conifer trees of the nearby forests stood tall, and little, dainty flowers of different colors like pink and purple were sitting in random wild flowerbeds about the green mountains. There was a large hill overlooking the nearby lake, which was as clear and clean as the surface of a mirror, it's pretty shade of blue standing out among the fields.

Sitting on this grassy hill were two figures, one a boy, the other a girl. They both seemed around fourteen, seeming as if they were close to nearing that age of adulthood. The young man was rather tall, with long jet black hair tied in a low ponytail with a green strong band of string. He had about him a slim yet muscular figure. His skin was slightly tan, the outdoors bronzing his skin slightly, and his handsome face gave away a look of peacefulness and an air of calm, his elbow bent to the side as the palm of his hand propped up the back of his head. The young girl who lay next to him was near his height, and was strikingly beautiful, with thick curly orange locks and of a curvy hourglass shape. She was a pale peach-color, and she lay with one arm lying across her stomach and the other lying by her side.

He opened his eyes, his irises an amber-brown. Although the sunlight stung his eyes slightly and made him squint, it was strong enough to make him flinch. The hand behind his head came over and acted as a shade to cover over his gaze. His other arm propped itself up on it's elbow and he sat up slightly, looking out and admiring the scenery.

Shun then looked to his side at the girl beside him, Alice. The night before had been long and memorable; he could still remember their soft kiss, his hand on her waist, her palm against his cheek. Then Alice took him to her room, where they snuggled up together under the blankets and bedsheets, and embraced as they slept with their arms around each other.

Then that morning, he had woken up and decided to take a nap in the nice weather, in which it seemed Alice had followed him and taken example.

Shun moved the arm shading his vision and pushed back gently one of her bangs that has blown into her face. He observed the way how her lids were closed, how her eyelashes seemed to flutter against her cheeks, the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed, the little exhale of air from her lips. She seemed more beautiful and innocent as she slept.

Without thinking too much about it, he bent down and kissed the apple of her cheek, and her lashes fluttered as she slowly awoke from her slumber.

"Shun...?" Her eyes opened, revealing almost hypnotic hazel irises. She smiled when she saw Shun's embarrassed face, a pale pink blushing growing on his face.

"Why did you come outside?" Shun asked, leaning down on his other arm to look at her, now lying completely on his side to face her.

She closed her eyes again, giving a sad smile. "I guess I'm always following you, huh..." She looked back at him, eye shining. "Maybe I'll always be with you, no matter what."

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**Author's Note: Yeah, super short story, I know lol XD Again, this is just a one-shot; and to top it off, I came up with it in about 40 minutes, so it's sort of brief. I have no idea how popular Bakugan fanfics are (personally I'd guess not that much) so whether they're popular or not, my expectations for this one are not very high. But hope those who have read it enjoyed it 3 **

**Any comments or feedback are greatly appreciated, even views or follows; and if anyone wants those extra chapters, leave a review. Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Hello again. Seems like people want the extra chapters (like I said, both are currently on A3 if anyone's impatient or interested) so I'm gonna put them here. Note that I went over them again, added some things, touched it up, that kinda thing. The original chapter itself was sort of bad =_= Anyway, here you go, for those who wanted the extra chapters. **

**Also, just saying, but these take place before the events of Chapter 1. There's a reminder right below these words for those with somehow really short-term memory. Anyhow; enjoy! ^^**

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(A few days before the events of Chapter 1)

It was around 10AM, nearing noon. Morning daylight shone through the glass windows of the pretty white house. Outside, the sun was bright and the sky was blue, making it another day of perfect spring weather. The light breezes of wind could be heard pushing against the wind chimes hung on the porch outside, the metallic objects dancing about as they made a collection of pretty notes with every clang.

In what took several moments, Shun awoke silently, his eyes slowly opening, adjusting to the brightness coming from the outdoors. By some horrible miracle, the light from the window had somehow landed directly on to his face, blinding his eyesight and bugging him in his sleep. He calmly sat up, covering his mouth as he yawned big, stretching his shoulders and leaning back on his arms. It was then that he suddenly remembered that he had been sleeping on Alice's couch.

He had practically forgot; perhaps the couch itself was just so comfortable that it made him forget everything and everything as he fell into his deep slumber. It wasn't just the plushy cushions or soft reupholstered fabric, but as a neat addition, a thick woolly blanket had been tucked over him carefully, with a fluffy pillow cradling his head. His jacket was off, hanging off of a tall wooden coat hanger by the door to the hallway, which led to the entrance way, and his shoes were sitting in a short little shelf among Alice's sandals and boots.

Shun then smelled an aroma going to his nose; a delicious aroma that instantly made his mouth water. His head turned abruptly to the door to the dining room, where he could hear someone setting plates down on the table. He pulled his legs out from under the blanket, sitting on the couch, and then stood up, heading over towards the door.

When he opened it and looked inside, he saw that the dinner table had been set for breakfast. There was one large plate on one side of the table, and one large plate diagonal from it; chopsticks had been set beside them, but there were also some napkins rolled around forks, knives, and spoons. A short tea cup accompanied each plate, and a thick white napkin had been decoratively folded and placed on top. A vase with a bouquet of vibrantly-colored roses was sitting in the middle of the table, next to a large white teapot with floral designs and painted on it, all of this on top of a white tablecloth with a red one on top.

Alice was there, wiping one of the plates with a clean dishcloth. Her thick orange-red locks were pulled back into what looked like a ponytail, bound with a black claw hair clip, the cascading curls falling over her back. She wasn't completely dressed, wearing a frilly white short-sleeved nightgown, the hem of the skirt twirling around her knees, but she had put on a yellow and orange apron over it and the strings were tied around her waist in a bow. She wore a pair of green slippers on her feet, and a thin silver necklace around her neck, a heart pendant hanging off of it. She was humming quietly, her voice sounding lovely and clear as a bell.

She looked up from the plate and greeted Shun with a warm smile. "Good morning, Shun," she said kindly.

"Good morning," Shun responded, realizing he had been staring at her rather rudely, admiring her nearly flawless appearance despite the early, busy morning, but it seemed she hadn't noticed.

"How did you sleep?" she asked, setting the plate down.

"It was great." He scratched behind his head nervously, realizing his hair was still in a ponytail, and to his worry, it felt greasier than it had yesterday. "Uh, sorry for sleeping in late."

"It's fine," Alice told him assuredly. "I was able to make some breakfast while you were resting."

Shun watched as Alice headed out another door to the kitchen. "I'll be right back, but feel free to come and see what's going on," she added.

He realized that the stove was still on and there was something frying on a pan. The scent from the kitchen smelled familiar; very familiar. It practically smelled like Japanese food. He followed her into the kitchen.

Sure enough, Alice was standing beside the stove, an iron pan on the burner, cooking a piece of salmon on it. It smelled salty, and from the looks of it, it was being broiled. Beside her on the counter tops were different bowls with other familiar foods; a large bowl of miso soup, a bowl of natto mixed with soy sauce, a bowl of nori, a big plate of tamagoyaki rolled omelets, and an enormous rice cooker filled to the top with steamed rice.

Alice picked up the broiled salted salmon with a spatula and put it on a large plate beside her. "You made Japanese food?" he asked, once Alice turned off the stove.

"Well, since it would be easiest for you, I thought it'd be best to make a traditional Japanese breakfast," she explained. "Do you usually eat this stuff at home?" She turned to him, her hand going nervously to her mouth. "Or did I choose the wrong things to make..."

"Hey, it's fine," Shun said quickly. "This is basically what I usually eat anyway. And it smells amazing."

Surprised, Alice's cheeks turned pink and she laughed a little. "Oh thank you! I just practice a lot."

Alice then picked up the plate of broiled salmon. "Why don't you go sit down?" she suggested. "I'll bring all the food to the table."

"I'll help," Shun told her, about to pick up the rice cooker.

He then felt Alice jab him sharply in his side, her nimble fingers pressing into the loose fabric of his shirt to his skin, and turned around to see her worryingly furrow her brow. "No, of course not! You are my guest, there will be no busy work for you!" She pointed her finger off to the dining room. "Please, go sit yourself down."

Shun was taken aback by her assertive gesture. "You sure...?" he asked slowly.

Alice shifted her weight to the side, looking almost slightly exasperated as an eyebrow raised. "Of course I am."

He hesitated, but then he just smiled. She looked oddly cute when she was being firm. "Whatever you say." He walked off to the dining room, unaware to Alice blushing slightly.

Shun sat down on the wider side of the table and saw Alice bring in the salmon and the tamagoyaki. "You can start whenever you like," she told him.

She returned back to the kitchen, and Shun decided he would wait for her. He took the chopsticks from the small chopstick rest, positioning them into his hand as he usually did, and waited as she brought in two bowls of miso, two bowls of natto placed on top of rice, and two bowls of nori strips dipped in soy sauce and mixed with rice.

"You didn't have to wait for me," she said when bringing out a plate of daikon radish to go with the tamagoyaki, closing the kitchen door behind her and setting the plate on the table beside the omelets.

Shun just shrugged. "Well, it would be rude to eat without you," he replied quietly, personally hoping she wouldn't completely hear him, but somehow, she did.

"It's not rude to me at all." Alice sat down, her apron taken off. Shun was suddenly thankful that the nightgown wasn't sheer, because he had been a little apprehensive thinking about how thin the fabric looked, and he would have definitely seen things he would have regretted otherwise. She unfolded her napkin and placed it delicately over her lap. Shun copied and did the same.

"Well, _itadakimasu_," Shun said as part of Japanese tradition, putting his palms together, with the chopsticks still intertwined with his fingers. At this point he had to keep swallowing over and over again because the food smelled so good. Alice put her hands together and repeated. "_Itadakimasu_."

Shun then took a piece of the cut salmon, along with some tamagoyaki and a bit of daikon radish, and took a bite.

...Incredible; the food tasted _irresistible_...

Alice had only eaten a little bit herself, but she instead found herself stopping and watched Shun scarf down what remained on his plate. He himself usually never ate that fast, but he couldn't control himself as he picked up food quickly, stuck it in his mouth, and then diving for another piece while chewing and swallowing. The taste was so succulent, so rich, so divine; hell, she was a one-hundred times better cook than his grandfather by far. Or even himself. Or anyone he even _knew_.

"Well, what do you think?" Alice asked, taking another bite of tamagoyaki when he had almost cleared the dish. "Does it taste like normal Japanese food...?"

Shun wolfed down what remained in his mouth and looked her in the eye seriously. While his 'serious face' tended to be his normal face, as he was naturally always stoic and expressionless, there was a noticeable glint in his eye when he was about to speak the truth. "I've never tasted anything better."

Alice blushed and ate another piece. "I'm sure it's not that good-"

"No, Alice, it's amazing," he blurted out. "The texture, the flavor, the scent. It's the best breakfast I've ever eaten in my entire life and I'm not lying."

Alice was surprised, but she smiled. "I'm just happy you like it."

"I love it." Shun took the miso soup bowl and picked the tofu pieces out, eating each and every one, going for the wakame seaweed, before then drinking the broth down, finding little pieces of green onion inside.

Alice continued to eat, finishing off her piece of salmon and her tamagoyaki, moving on to the bowls.

Only in a mere matter of minutes had Shun finished off his meal, and was eying the rest of the salmon and tamagoyaki, even though he was practically full. "Help yourself to seconds if you'd like," Alice told him, "that is, if you aren't too full. You ate really quickly..."

Shun wanted to have more, but she did have a point. As much as he regretted doing so, he waved his hand away and shook his head. "You're right, I shouldn't eat any more."

Alice finished off her miso and looked up to see Shun running a hand over his greasy hair, grimacing as he felt the oily consistency left on his fingers. Sure, he hadn't washed his hair in a while; or even had a decent bath in a while (the most he had had was a dip in a nearby lake which had been filled with dirty fish four days ago); but he had never expected it to get so slippery to the touch. It didn't help the current state of his odor, either.

"Do you want to use the shower?" she asked.

Shun quickly shook his head at her answer. "No, it's fine, I won't use it."

"Are you sure? I can wash your clothes if you'd like while you're in it," she added helpfully. "And besides, it's always good to take one if you haven't had one in a while. Have you washed yourself since coming here?"

Shun thought for a moment. "W-Well, no, but it's not like I need one. I'd just be causing you trouble."

"But you haven't been causing me any trouble at all!" Alice sighed. "Please, as my guest, I must be able to give you the best of care during your stay here. Once I wash the dishes, you can hop into the shower and enjoy yourself. There's some clean soap and towels ready for you there. I'll take your clothes and wash and dry them, and if you finish early, I can get you an extra change of clothes too."

He sat in stunned silence. Alice went to great lengths for many people; but he hadn't expected her to go to such great lengths for him. He knew he probably wasn't the worth house guest in the world, and no one had ever complained about his stays, but he had always worried himself about being a bother to people like, well, Alice. "You'd be willing to do all that for me?"

"Of course!" Alice smiled. It really was a breathtaking smile, her smooth lips parting for merely a moment as her face warmed benevolently.

"You don't even mind me staying here?"

"Why would I mind? You can stay here as long as you like."

Shun looked down for a moment. As long as he liked? "R-Really?"

"Yeah." Hesitantly, Alice put her hand on top of his. Her skin was warm and gentle, the gesture so pure and affectionate. Shun felt his face grow a bit red. He had always wondered what it would feel like to have their hands clasped together. Even though their fingers were laced together, the contact was enough. "I'll take care of you, no matter what."

Shun then smiled, trying hard not to stutter. "Thank you, Alice. I really do mean it."

"It's no problem at all." Alice took her hand off and stood up, starting to gather the empty dishes together. "I'm going to start washing the dishes in the sink. You can do whatever you like for the time being, just don't use the shower yet, 'cause I'll be using the hot water."

Shun nodded. "Okay." He picked up some more dishes when she came back to get more and handed them to her. "Thank you," she said sweetly to his kind motion.

Shun walked back to the living room and sat down on the couch, the comfiness of it easing him from his formerly racing heart. He touched his hand, feeling the spot where her hand had gone. It didn't feel so warm as it had without it, and he wanted it back. He then tried his best to wipe what sweat was on him with his jacket instead of the clean blanket, even rubbing his hair on it to see if it would get any of the grease off. Of course, this was a dumb idea, and now his jacket smelled just about as good as he did; like shit. He sighed.

"The struggle is real," he muttered.

He then looked over to the door leading to the dining room/kitchen. He could hear Alice's pretty voice humming again, filling the air with a music he could listen to every moment of his life if he had the choice. She looked so beautiful this morning...

Somehow, his feet brought him to the door and he stepped from the dining room into the kitchen, seeing Alice scrubbing the dishes with a sponge. She smiled when she saw him. "Is there anything you need?" she asked.

Shun shook his head. "No, I don't need anything right now." He took one of the wet clean dishes sitting on the side and dried it with a nearby dishcloth, putting it away in one of the cupboards behind her.

"Thank you," she said warmly. "I appreciate it."

Shun watched her from behind, her back turned to his. He was only a few inches from her. She smelled really good; like cinnamon sugar.

Without thinking, his hands reached out to her sides, and they settled themselves on her hips. Alice stiffened ever so slightly. Shun's arms then began wrapping around her waist, his skin touching the fabric of her apron, pulling her in slowly. Alice stopped what she was doing for a moment, surprised at what was happening.

"Sh-Shun...?"

Shun leaned forward, his chest against her back, and rested his chin on her right shoulder. He was so close to her now, and he felt so good with her...

"Thank you for this," he murmured in her ear. He could feel a little bit of her soft hair against the back of his neck.

Heat was emanating from Alice's face, and he squeezed his arms tightly around her in an embracing hug, pressing up against her gently.

Reluctantly, Shun let go, slipping his arms off of her, realizing what he had done. Not sure what to say, he quickly walked out of the kitchen, heading back off to the living room, leaving a confused Alice blushing furiously as she touched where his hands had gone around her.

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**Author's Note: That's the second chapter ~.~ What does everyone think? I'm also not too sure if this is intended to be an AU or not, this is taking place at Alice's house, which is an actual canon location (as seen from New Vestroia, if memories from childhood serve me right), so I dunno, probably isn't. But I hope people are enjoying this at least. It might be a bit cliche of the typical fluffy boy/girl fics out there, but I dunno, maybe you like cliche... **

**As always, reviews and favorites are welcome and greatly appreciated! Thanks for the reviews, favorites, and follows so far, guys, makes my day. Look forward to the third chapter, if you feel so inclined XD**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: It's been a while, I apologize for that =_= but it seems that I had written the third chapter a while back and just forgot to post it here on fanfiction,net XD I've actually been wanting to work on this little project again, see where the story takes me. I'd like to think my writing has even improved a little bit since the summer, so I might as well take the rest of Winter Break to my advantage and try to write the fourth chapter... **

**Anyways, enjoy!**

* * *

Spring continued to be a bright and colorful season, vibrant flower beds blooming all across the vast green hills of Russia. The lakes and rivers shimmered as the sun's rays cast its light over them, while reflecting in their blue surfaces a mirror of the sky above. Birds with new songs and tunes sang as they flew about, living in the tall dark green trees that towered over the countryside. A foreigner or newcomer would have to take in the atmosphere for a few minutes; after all, Russia was said to be its prettiest in the spring.

A few days had passed since Shun had begun staying at Alice's house. Nothing much had happened of late, and everyday was practically the same; he continued sleeping on her couch in the living room, he continued feasting on delicious Japanese cuisine for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, he continued using her shower and bath, and he continued taking nice long walks outdoors, even nice refreshing naps in the hills, occasionally with Alice herself by his side when she had the time.

But as those days kept passing, Shun found himself enjoying the stay even more; and he owed it all to Alice.

Sure, while coming to the rural countryside of Moscow in the middle of spring with no plans on where to eat or sleep, Alice had been there to offer her best hospitality in her home. Her little house was quite warm and cozy, and was always kept in good arrangement; she was there to make his meals (while discovering in the process that she was the most wonderful cook he had ever known), she was there to wash and dry his clothes, she was there for so many things. His random decision for a vacation in another country had been saved by Alice, and he had a lot to thank her for.

Of course, traveling to Russia unplanned had a deeper reason to it; but he would keep it secret for now.

It had been four days, and Shun found himself lying on his couch bed, reading a Japanese newspaper which Alice had somehow managed to find, and feeling rather disgusting. Despite being able to use her shower everyday, this didn't fix the odor embedded deeply into his clothes; and even though they were washed every time he went to take a shower, that didn't fix the other problem; they were the only clothes he had with him.

Alice had relied on alternatives, such as going to her grandfather's laboratory and bringing back any clothes for him that she could find; which consisted of plaid buttoned shirts, brown khaki pants, leather belts, hard shiny shoes, and white lab coats, all of which were over-sized and too big for him. Shun ended up wearing one of the ridiculously colored button-up shirts for one night while waiting for his clothes to dry, and was shocked that the entire night, Alice didn't laugh at him even once.

That morning, however, Shun was becoming convinced that he was just dirtying his clothes every day, whether or not they were put in the washing machine.

He was busy reading about an interesting mochi recipe when his attention turned to Alice, who was walking out of the hallway. His eyes lingered over her image curiously; her skin looking bright and dewy, her curly orange red hair left down, her brown eyes up and awake. She wore about her a light blue dress with a white leather double-breasted jacket and black boots, a maroon-colored scarf around her neck and a brown leather shoulder bag worn over her shoulder. Shun couldn't help but feel his face grow warm with intrigue as he quickly glanced over her curves, the conservatively-paired clothes pressed beautifully against her flattering figure.

"Going off somewhere?" he asked, looking back at his newspaper.

Alice nodded, smiling. "Yeah, I was about to go shopping, we need some groceries," she explained.

"Oh, okay," Shun tried to say casually, adjusting his elbow back to support himself up higher, although at the same time getting a whiff of a strong stench coming from the sweat stains on the part of his shirt by his arm pits. He scowled, annoyed already.

Alice seemed to notice his grimace and grew concerned. "Um, Shun, do you need your clothes to be washed again?" she proposed.

Shun could imagine himself blushing. "N-No, it's fine," he responded. "I'd probably break your washing machine if they went in there again for the fifth time..."

Alice chuckled, although she still appeared worried. She paused for a few moments, pondering to herself. Shun wondered if even she could smell the awful scent coming from his shirt and pants. He had never become more self-conscious in his entire life, stiffening instantly.

"Hey, Shun..." Alice began, looking almost a little embarrassed.

"Y-Yeah?" Shun managed to say, "what is it?"

"Do you wanna go buy some more clothes?"

Inside, Shun sighed with relief, thankful she hadn't brought up the smell, but at the same time was puzzled by her question. He put the newspaper down, looking over to her. "Clothes?"

"Well, I know it'd be bad if you just wore the same clothes everyday, and my grandfather's clothes are obviously not in your size," Alice explained. "If you come with me to go grocery shopping, we can also stop by the mall and buy you a few things, you know?" She raised an eyebrow. "Would you come along with me?"

A shopping trip. Shun had never imagined himself ending up on one of those. He had never been exactly fascinated by fashion; his grandfather had bought him all of his clothes after his mother, and he just wore them in whatever random match he desired without a second thought. And he wasn't exactly fond of public department stores... But maybe they were different in Russia.

He shrugged. "I guess I could come with you. I wouldn't be a bother for the grocery-shopping part, would I?"

"Of course not!" Alice gave him a stern look. "When have you ever been a bother to me?"

"I was thinking about these past few days," Shun said under his breath, as if hoping she wouldn't hear.

But Alice heard him anyway. She just smiled. "Shun, you've been an amazing guest," she told him reassuringly. "And it's been really fun having you here, I enjoy your company. And as my guest, I must provide the best care I can; whether that be buying you clothes or anything of the sort. So please don't call yourself a bother!"

Shun's heart was already beating a bit faster. She looked so cute like that...

He snapped back to reality. "Uh, right, sorry," he said quickly. He then got off of the couch, folding the newspaper and putting it on top of his blankets. Alice took his jacket down from the coat hanger by the entrance way and handed it to him, which he slipped on.

"Alright, then let's go," Alice said cheerfully as they headed out the door.

* * *

Alice led Shun to the nearest train station, which was surprisingly close, despite them being far from the city. They headed inside the Moscow Metro, Alice buying them two tickets and heading off to one of the platforms. They then went onto a train of the cyan line, the Filyovskaya Line, and sat down in two seats by a window; there were many seats available, as the train was not very crowded.

"We'll be stopping at Arbatskaya," Alice explained to him. "Over there and out of the station, there is a nice farmers market, and that's where I typically buy all of my groceries. But since we've been eating Japanese food lately, we'll have to make an extra stop at an international supermarket closer to the city center. That's where I got all the food I've used so far," she added.

"And then after the supermarket, we go to the mall?" Shun asked hesitantly.

"Yes, we'll probably go to Metropolis, since it's currently the most popular mall in Moscow." Alice rested her hand against her chin, thinking hard. "I believe they have mostly new franchises, like H&amp;M, River Island, Zara, Tommy Hilfiger, Mango, Levi's, Esprit... They have a lot of clothes shops there, and they're quite fancy, but there are also some less expensive thrift stores there as well if you're not picky about what you wear. How do you typically dress, Shun?" she asked him.

Shun was reluctant to respond. "I don't really think about it much, my grandfather bought me all of my clothes, so it's mostly just jackets and jeans and maybe some t-shirts here and there. But that's about it."

Alice smiled. "Well your grandfather certainly has good fashion taste!"

"He does?" Shun questioned.

Suddenly, in mere seconds, Alice turned bright red, as if she had let a slip of the tongue get in her way and she hadn't anticipated his question. "U-Uh, w-well," she stuttered, "...t-they just l-look good on y-you..." Her cheeks were turning scarlet. "Th-The clothes, I-I mean..."

Shun found himself blushing as well, and he turned his head away from her, his face becoming pink. "Th-Thanks," he then replied awkwardly. Although inside, he could see himself jumping up and down, happy that he had received a compliment from such a cute girl. He inwardly slapped himself at the thought. _Idiot!_ he snapped. _Don't think such stupid things!_

The two were silent for a few minutes, but then Alice quickly rose up, still blushing, but she took Shun's hand and pulled him up to his feet. They were at Arbatskaya. "L-Let's go," she said.

* * *

The two grocery shopping trips went fairly quickly, as Alice had done the part of the routine several times and thus was very quick with which ingredients to grab. At the end of the farmers market trip, one of the shopkeepers handed Shun an enormous basket carrying the food she had bought, and there was enough room to stuff the grocery bags from the big supermarket inside too. While Alice suggested that they take turns carrying it, since it was a massive load, Shun handled all the work himself and held it about in hand for the entire duration of the trip.

It was also during the trip that Shun began to notice an innumerable amount of people giving him a glances. The Russians probably assumed he was a foreigner and thus were giving him several different looks, but it began to bug him when he noticed that most of the Russians looking at him were teenage girls. He just pretended he didn't notice and did his best to make sure Alice didn't notice either. However, it was only when they made it onto the train to Metropolis that Alice began to see it.

The two were standing, holding the arm rests above, everyone else crowded around them. Alice pressed in closer to Shun as the train got more busy, the two becoming a bit more bashful.

Suddenly a group of three girls began pushing their way through the crowd of people. They were all roughly around sixteen, Shun and Alice's age, and they would shove through people while talking loudly in Russian, although Shun guessed that they were just trying to find a trio of seats in this hellhole.

It was then that one of the girls didn't spot Shun and accidentally bumped into him, her head hitting against his chest. She scratched her head while still looking down and muttered something irritably in Russian, before looking up into Shun's face and her expression changed altogether. The two other girls saw him and gave the same look, staring at Shun; and he was beginning to guess, much to his chagrin, that it wasn't just because he was a foreigner.

The girls began talking rapidly to Alice in Russian, their words flying at her, while the one who had bumped into him began trying to talk to him as well. Her tone sounded quiet and unstable, almost dreamy, her eyes narrowing softly as she looked into Shun's eyes. Alice was flustered from the two other girls talking to her, while Shun just tried to awkwardly respond back to the other girl in an attempt to tell her he couldn't understand her.

"I-I'm sorry," he kept repeating slowly, "but I don't speak Russian." But at the sound of his voice, the girl seemed to become even more enamored with him.

_Oh god, what have I gotten into..._ he thought sadly to himself.

Then, finally, the train stopped at Voikovskaya, which was where Metropolis was. Shun and Alice, along with several other people in the train, filed outside into the station, getting away from the group of girls. Shun ducked his head down in case if they followed them.

When they got to the front of Metropolis, the enormous futuristic-looking shopping center, Shun pulled Alice aside near one of the trash cans, so they could catch their breath. It seemed all the other people who hadn't gotten off the train with them were also heading for Metropolis.

"Well that was crazy," Shun grumbled.

"Yeah, it was," Alice replied.

"What even was that, anyway?"

"What?" Alice asked.

"What were those girls telling you in Russian?" Shun asked. "They sounded sorta enthusiastic, I suppose."

Alice seemed to grow a bit silent. "It's not really important," she said quickly. "They were just asking if..."

"If what?" Shun asked.

Alice looked away, embarrassed, shaking her head. "If... if you were 'taken'."

Shun was confused. "Taken?" he repeated.

"You know, like, if you had a girlfriend or something like that," Alice explained hesitantly.

"Oh." Shun understood why she looked embarrassed. He scratched his head awkwardly. "Hmm. Wonder why."

"Yeah..." Alice then perked back up. "Well, why don't we go inside?" she suggested. "There's a cheaper Korean store which sells a lot of clothes for guys, maybe you'd like the clothes there."

Shun nodded. "Okay. Let's go."

The two walked into Metropolis, and found a guide that led them to the store, trying to pass through all the big groups of people who were shopping together. They passed a McDonald's, a KFC, a Burger King, and many other fast food restaurants, before they found their way to the store that Alice had mentioned, and which, thankfully, did not appear to be too crowded.

The store was called Yesstyle, and it was a pretty big store. Unlike most shops, the men section was just as large as the women section, with just as much variety. Alice showed him there and began picking through the clothes.

"And there's a changing room here too," she added. "So if you wanna try on some clothes, you can do it here."

"Well, what should I get?" Shun asked, picking up a long-sleeved black asymmetrical zip jacket from one of the racks and inspecting it curiously.

"That's cool," Alice noted about the jacket, before answering his question. "Well, I explained to my grandfather the situation overnight, and he sent me his credit card number and told me to spend however we want to. But, I think we can suffice with 13,000 Russian Rubles."

"But that's a lot of money," Shun protested. "Are you willing to spend that much?"

"Well, the clothes here would look good on y-" Alice abruptly stopped herself, turning as red as a tomato like before on the train to the farmers market. "I mean, they're nice-quality clothes and you should get as much as you like," she corrected herself.

"Okay then." Shun sighed, picking up a black hooded vest next.

"Uh, would you help me pick some stuff?" he asked Alice, who was looking through some t-shirts on a separate rack.

"Of course!" Alice replied assertively, seeming to look more excited about it. "We'll then send you off to the dressing room with some clothes to try on." She then began sifting through the hoodies.

Believe it or not, the ordeal took two hours of shopping. Shun was fairly indecisive about picking clothes, but Alice would take both options, hold them up to her eye, and add them to their cart. The cart filled up quickly: printed t-shirts, vests, jackets, hoodies, jeans, shorts, sweatshirts, sweatpants, tank tops, hooded tops, socks, underwear, scarves, hats; Shun had never seen Alice ever becoming so impulsive. The cart was practically filled to the brim with clothes.

Not only that, but Alice had made Shun try on pretty much all of them in the dressing rooms, to make sure they were the perfect fit and size. She would stand outside the hallway for the men's dressing rooms and question him on the fabric, the comfort, the maneuverability, everything to make sure each piece of clothing was perfect. And every time Shun put on some of the clothes and looked into the mirror, he felt as if he was looking more and more like a K-Pop star.

Alice brought the cart to the cash register and somehow, the total was at 13,000 Rubles. Shun was speechless when he saw the amount of clothes they had bought, all getting wrapped in plastic bags. It was then that Alice called a delivery service and asked for the clothes to be taken to her house, as they would be clearly unable to carry the amount.

They left the mall when it was evening, and Shun was exhausted. Alice, however, remained happy and enthusiastic, amazed they had been able to find so many clothes that suited Shun.

"But where am I supposed to keep all of those clothes?" Shun asked exasperatedly to her.

"Don't worry, I thought that out already," Alice assured him. "There's a spare closet in one of the former guest rooms, it's where my uncle and aunt used to keep their clothes until they moved out a while ago. It's a really big closet, so we'll just keep them in there, and you can go and get dressed in the room too."

They took the train back to Alice's house, where they found the delivery truck had left all of their bags at the front door. Shun picked up five at a time and carried them into the former guest room, which to be used for storage, while Alice organized the closet once all his new clothes were inside, once having put all their groceries in the kitchen.

Shun just heaved a hefty sigh as he jumped onto the couch in the living room, landing on his back and propping up his head with his hands behind it. Alice seemed to have gone back into the kitchen and was now preparing dinner. He could already smell something delicious coming from there.

Speaking of smells, he remembered his smelly clothes. _Maybe I should change_, he thought. _There's fresh new clothes in the closet, after all_.

Shun pulled himself to his feet off of the couch and headed to the former guest room, where he opened the closet and looked through his options. For once in his life, it took him a long time to make a decision related to fashion. He considered several different tank tops, different t-shirts, different hoodies, different sweatshirts, different pants, and it took him about 30 minutes to come to a final decision. Perhaps Alice was influencing him after only one day.

Just when Shun took off his shirt, the door opened and Alice came into the room, her apron on and her hair tied back. "Shun, I'm just gonna keep organizing your closet-"

Alice gasped and leapt back when seeing Shun with his bare chest. He felt his cheeks turn a bit pink in embarrassment. Alice was blushing even worse than him, turning bright crimson once again.

"I'm so sorry!" she cried out. "I didn't mean to disturb your privacy, please forgive me!" Her voice was pleading and desperate, and looked away to the side.

Shun paused, watching Alice freak out from the sight of finding him shirtless; he found it oddly amusing.

"Well, you don't need to be sorry." He itched his right shoulder. "I mean, it's not like I'm really hiding anything under here."

Alice stared at Shun in surprise, although she didn't seem to be reacting to his assurance, but more or so to his body, her eyes looking up and over him. They looked over his chest, his pecs, his abs, as if looking at every single centimeter of him. Her gaze then lowered to the floor.

"You know," she murmured, "you attracted a lot of girls in one day today..."

Shun cracked a smile. "They weren't attracted to me. How would they even be?"

Alice smiled at the floor, blushing. "Maybe it's because you're really..."

"What?" Shun asked.

Alice looked away. "N-Never mind."

"Really what?"

Alice then tucked a bit of hair behind her ear. "You're a lot of things, Shun. You're kind. You're smart. You're quick. You're talented. You're calm. And you were always looking out for us... Especially Dan, because he got in so much trouble." She laughed a little, Shun did the same.

"The girls were actually telling me that they wanted to kiss you," Alice then blurted out. "They weren't just asking if you had a girlfriend..."

"Kiss, huh?" Shun then looked over to her. Suddenly he lost control of his thoughts, and the words came out to his own shock.

"Do you want to kiss me?"

Before he realized what he had just said, Alice made a small gasp, staring into his eyes, surprised at his question. There was a few seconds of hesitation, but then she stepping forward, her face breathing on his neck. Her hand reached out, and her fingers brushed over his lips gently. Shun could feel himself warming up. Her fingers were really soft.

Her fingers then gripped his right shoulder, feeling his skin under her palm, and just when she was about to lean in...

The alarm from the stove went off.

Alice seemed to realize this, and she reluctantly took her hand off of him. "I-I have to go," she said quickly, averting her eyes from him, before leaving the guest room and heading back out to the kitchen, leaving a sad Shun wanting her even more.

_I want to kiss you too, Alice_.

* * *

**Sooooo that was that! Let me know what you guys think; I know I promised a new chapter by September or October, but maybe I'll make up for it by writing the next chapter this week. Maybe it'll even finish the story; you'll have to find that one out... **

**Any reviews, favorites, or comments are greatly appreciated, and as always, thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: So, as promised, I have the new chapter out! I liked how this one turned out; however, fair warning that there be lots of swearing ahead. I did give it a T rating for a reason XD I wasn't as consistent with the swearing in the previous chapters because of romantic reasons, but with the introduction of a character who may sound familiar... it had to get at least a little spicy. **

**Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

It had been another few days or so for Shun while he was staying at Alice's house. The lovely spring weather had hardly changed and the days remained sunny and simple. Clouds would occasionally pass over the bright blue sky and gentle gusts of wind would sometimes pass by, but those were as bad as it got; everyday was always nice.

As per usual, Shun lay lounging upon the couch in the living room. His blankets cushioned the space under him, despite the couch being one of the most plush of couches he had ever sat on. A fluffy pillow held up his head, and his arms were folded back, his hands supporting the back of his head as he stared up at a wall, as if he was contemplating life's issues while deep in thought. He was now dressed in different clothes from what he had come in; the black hoodie, purple t-shirt, and black jeans he had arrived in were now washed and neatly folded in the closet space in the unused guest room. Today, Alice had recommended a white graphic tank top with black sweatpants, and he tossed over a green and black button-up plaid hoodie for extra comfort.

Alice had also gone on another little shopping trip, so the house was empty, unnaturally silent besides the chirping of birds outside. While Shun normally liked silence, he didn't really like it in Alice's house; he always liked hearing the noises of her bustling about, rustling through cabinets or tilting pans filled with sizzling oil, or setting tables with plates or sweeping around the floors. It wasn't as if these sounds were especially loud; they were just loud enough to make the quiet atmosphere still seem homy.

Because of this, Shun had put a pair of earplugs into his ears and for once, turned on his iPod. He rarely ever used it; he wasn't exactly the most tech-savvy person that he knew, and the only real electronic that he used frequently was his computer back at home so he could chat with his friends, but Dan had bought it for him as a present one year, so he usually kept it on him as some sort of keepsake. He had never really thought of actually using it until now.

And thankfully for him, Dan had loaded up the thing with songs already; all filled with nothing but dubstep and heavy metal.

He wasn't quite sure why, but at the moment, it was enough to fill up the lack of noise in the house. More than enough, in fact; one heavy bass drop or one gut-wrenching guitar solo after another made him feel more at ease as the beats and riffs filled his ears, and the room felt less quiet.

The thought of him actually putting technology to use that wasn't his computer amused him, and it brought a small smile to his lips. His grandfather was the type of guy who rejected all advancements in technology and forced the family to follow traditional Japanese customs instead. The only thing his grandfather had allowed him to have at all was his computer, after a great deal of begging, since all of his friends were using them to chat with each other online, face-to-face. That's how they had all met in the first place; through the Internet. With the exception of Dan and Shun having been childhood buds.

And then it occurred to him; hadn't he... brought his cellphone with him...?

He could've sworn that he had carried something in his pockets while he had traveled. Something that he had played around with while his hands were shoved in his pockets...

It had been in his black hoodie, hadn't it.

And it had just been washed. For like, the billionth time.

_Shit_.

Shun immediately leapt off the couch and sprinted over to the hallway down to the room with the washing machine inside of it. The sheer level of panic that he had managed to reach in less than two seconds had raised his heartbeat relentlessly and his breath went quick as he charged down the hall. The damn thing had cost his grandfather a lot of money and if it had gone in the washing machine AND the dryer, he was fucked for sure. He practically barreled through the door after he fumbled shakily with the door handle and burst into the room, bare feet landing hard on tiled ground.

He flicked on the lightswitch and dove his hands into the blue laundry basket which sat on top of the dryer, groping through the clothes for the familiar fabric of his hoodie. He handled through jeans, cottons, silks, even stopping himself abruptly when his fingers felt along the underwire of a lacy bra; his hands practically moved themselves and he flinched back, his cheeks feeling warm. Shun then searched back into the basket and gripped a recognizable hood.

Shun pulled the hoodie from the basket and his hands clumsily went for the pockets; one pocket, then the next. And to his horror, but also surprise, they were empty.

It was then that he took the moment to actually begin looking around the room, and his eyes fell on the small black device that lay on one of the shelves.

Alice had searched his hoodie long before putting it into the washing machine.

"Thank God," Shun muttered, the relief flooding into him as he released a long exhale. Alice must have forgotten to tell him that she had found his phone. He eased his breath and leaned back against the washing machine, his arms holding him up.

Shun then reached over to the phone and reluctantly turned the phone on.

To find at least over 200 messages.

Shun scrolled through and realized he had 63 missed calls and over 130 texts.

At first he was shocked; no one usually hardly ever sent him anything, and he maybe got a text once every two or three days, and rarely a call ever came. Only Dan ever really took the time to ring him up or ask him how he was doing. But then he began to realize why there had suddenly been such a huge uproar as he began reading past the little pieces of words from the texts, and who the senders were.

Shun had never told anyone that he'd be going off to Russia.

In his missed calls, he had 6 from Marucho, 5 from Julie, 4 from Runo, 11 from Dan; even some other people, like 10 from Komba, 1 from Chan, 4 from Joe, 3 from Klaus, 7 from Ace, of all people; there were dozens of texts sent from them all as well, including a long string of 50 from his best friend. Several messages from family members who still didn't know what a phone was... It was as if everyone had used every means they had to try to contact and communicate with him.

Now if only he had actually thought that people may have worried about him.

Shun then started putting himself in his friends' shoes; a friend seeming alive and healthy and normal, doing well (mostly well) in everyday life, until one day they just disappeared, never telling them a word about their whereabouts; if they had just left, if they had been kidnapped, if they had been even killed. They never called or texted or let anyone know where they were, with friends even blowing up their phone with messages and they still didn't pick up. It almost brought a shiver down his spine; he would have been worried too if something like that happened to one of his teammates.

As he scanned through the countless amount of texts, Shun wondered who the first person to contact should be. He found his default answer as his finger tapped on Dan Kuso's name in his contacts.

\- Shun Kazami: Hey, man

Shun cringed a second later at the horribly casual tone that the text sounded like. But he wasn't sure how else to seem, so he kept going with it.

\- Shun Kazami: Um, did something happen?

After a few quiet seconds, Shun just sighed and turned off his phone, slipping it into his sweatpants pocket. Dan would either frantically respond in seconds or was just asleep and wouldn't notice. He decided not to think about it for now and wait for him to respond.

Shun was about to trudge lazily back over to the living room until he felt a sharp row of vibrations in his pocket, buzzing one after the other, at least seven to eight times. He flinched sharply, remembering uncomfortably that the phone's weight in his pocket had caused the object to sink dangerously close to his crotch. His hand shot into his pocket and pulled the device out, quickly typing in his pass code before finding the stream of texts showing up.

\- Dan Kuso: where  
\- Dan Kuso: thE FUCK  
\- Dan Kuso: HAVE YOU BEEN  
\- Dan Kuso: YOU FREAKING MORON

Even though they weren't face to face, Shun could feel the guilt sinking in faster than an anchor hitting the bottom of the ocean, his cheeks heating up slightly. He never thought he'd had to learn not to make his friends worry the hard way.

He walked back into the living room, his eyes still glued to the phone screen, and flopped gently on to the couch, before formulating his reply.

\- Dan Kuso: ANSWER ME DAMNIT  
\- Shun Kazami: Look I'm sorry I didn't tell you anything  
\- Dan Kuso: YOU BETTER BE  
\- Dan Kuso: just where the hell are you?

Shun paused before he typed in his next answer. He obviously had to come clean to Dan and tell him that he was in Russia, but should he say that he was with Alice...? Dan had always been on to Shun about the subject matter of girls, and if he were to tell him that he had been spending a few weeks in a house all alone with a gorgeous red-headed natural beauty in an isolated town, then he was screwed for sure. Even though they both recognized Alice as a friend (for the most part, at least), Shun was already worried that Dan would ask if he had gotten laid with her yet.

\- Dan Kuso: HeeLLOOO?!  
\- Shun Kazami: Dude I'm in Russia, calm down  
\- Dan Kuso: DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN  
\- Dan Kuso: wait what  
\- Dan Kuso: whaaaaaaaaaaaaat  
\- Shun Kazami: Yep  
\- Shun Kazami: Home of the piroshkis and the mustached politicians  
\- Dan Kuso: srsly man?  
\- Dan Kuso: ok dude tho rlly  
\- Dan Kuso: WHY DIDN'T YOU FUCKING TELL ANYONE BEFORE HAND THAT YOU WERE IN RUSSIA OF ALL GODDAMN PLACES

Okay, he had to be careful about his answer here. The real reason why he had left Japan hadn't been for anything serious; well, maybe serious for him, but nothing earth-shattering for anyone else. He'd have to explain why to Dan later, and probably everyone else, of course. But at the moment, maybe he'd leave them in a foggy daze of confusion and mystery as to the purpose behind his sudden disappearance for a few more days at most.

\- Shun Kazami: Look, I needed to get out of the house and leave a couple of days, ok? I wasn't feeling that great and I felt like I had to get away from everything for a bit. I just wanted a break  
\- Dan Kuso: a break?  
\- Shun Kazami: Yeah  
\- Dan Kuso: ok that's fiine and all, but just remember man  
\- Dan Kuso: there are some people at home who ACTUALLY care about you  
\- Dan Kuso: so don't go around randomly leaving for a few days without telling anyone  
\- Dan Kuso: got it?  
\- Shun Kazami: Yeah  
\- Shun Kazami: I'm really sorry  
\- Dan Kuso: it's all good  
\- Dan Kuso: i'll tell everyone that you're safe and stuff  
\- Dan Kuso: you're safe, right?  
\- Shun Kazami: Yeah, of course  
\- Dan Kuso: good

Shun found himself letting out an enormous sigh of relief. Now, no one would be worried about his whearabouts, and hopefully, they wouldn't be mad at him either. And from what it sounded like, Dan was accepting his apology without any sort of problem whatsoever. Then again, that was a difficulty with online communication; despite the limitless emojis that were meant to make chatting more colorful, it sometimes made it feel more emotionless.

But since the problem was all sorted out, Shun could now relax and breathe normally without too much guilt or worry.

\- Dan Kuso: so where are you staying at in good ol Russia anyway?

Okay maybe not.

\- Shun Kazami: Idk some place in Moscow I guess  
\- Dan Kuso: whhooooaaa dude that's WAY too specific man jeez loosen up on the details for once  
\- Shun Kazami: Har har har  
\- Dan Kuso: ok but srsly where are you staying  
\- Shun Kazami: Idk  
\- Shun Kazami: Some hotel or something  
\- Shun Kazami: It's not like it's important or anything  
\- Dan Kuso: umm since we're like 4474 km apart from each other I think it'd be nice for me to know where you're staying at so I can feel better  
\- Dan Kuso: just tell me where you're staying at  
\- Shun Kazami: That doesn't really concern you  
\- Dan Kuso: JESUS CHRIST SHUN THIS ISN'T THAT HARD YOU KNOW  
\- Shun Kazami: Why do you even care  
\- Dan Kuso: god you're so fucking annoying

_You're one to talk_, Shun thought, slightly bitter, even though he didn't really mean it and he was just worried that Dan would suddenly figure it out.

\- Dan Kuso: well at least tell me later, k?  
\- Shun Kazami: Yeah, I'll tell you later  
\- Dan Kuso: speaking of Russia  
\- Dan Kuso: I wonder how alice has been doing lately  
\- Dan Kuso: I haven't texted her in a while  
\- Shun Kazami: Same  
\- Dan Kuso: wait, you're in Moscow, right?  
\- Dan Kuso: haven't you seen her around?  
\- Shun Kazami: No  
\- Shun Kazami: I don't think so  
\- Dan Kuso: well you should later  
\- Dan Kuso: you might as well  
\- Shun Kazami: I'm sure she's doing fine  
\- Shun Kazami: She talks about cooking a lot  
\- Dan Kuso: wait so you HAVE seen her?

Damn it. He had let that one slip out.

\- Shun Kazami: No we text  
\- Dan Kuso: oh.  
\- Dan Kuso: when did you last text her?  
\- Shun Kazami: Idk last night or something  
\- Dan Kuso: you mean text as in email?  
\- Shun Kazami: No, why would I email her instead of text?  
\- Dan Kuso: oh idk, nvmd. Has she been doing good then  
\- Shun Kazami: Yeah she's been doing great

There was a rather suspicious pause after Shun's response. At first, he assumed that Dan may have turned off his phone because something was suddenly distracting him from encrypting his next reply, but for some reason, he felt his hand twitch at the fearful anticipation he was going through.

\- Dan Kuso: ohhhhmg  
\- Dan Kuso: are you that much of a dumbass  
\- Dan Kuso: shun you're hiding something from me

Uh oh.

\- Shun Kazami: What?  
\- Dan Kuso: dude omg  
\- Dan Kuso: you're at alice's house aren't you

Shiiiit.

\- Shun Kazami: No I'm not  
\- Dan Kuso: you're lying  
\- Shun Kazami: I said, I'm not at Alice's house  
\- Dan Kuso: liar  
\- Dan Kuso: liiiiiiiiiiaaaaaaar  
\- Shun Kazami: Omfg I'M NOT AT ALICE'S HOUSE  
\- Dan Kuso: liar liar pants on fire  
\- Shun Kazami: What are you, five  
\- Dan Kuso: holy shit I can't believe it  
\- Dan Kuso: you're at alice's house right now  
\- Shun Kazami: I. Am. NOT  
\- Dan Kuso: i knew it there WAS sexual tension between you two  
\- Shun Kazami: bullshit  
\- Dan Kuso: dude this is insane omg  
\- Dan Kuso: not that i'm implying anything, but i'm jealous  
\- Shun Kazami: OK first of all, how are you so damn sure of yourself  
\- Dan Kuso: ok well since you clearly don't seem to know i might as well fill you in  
\- Shun Kazami: Fill me in on what  
\- Shun Kazami: You have absolutely no way of telling where I am  
\- Shun Kazami: And you literally have no rational way of proving that I'm actually in Alice's house  
\- Dan Kuso: think again loser  
\- Shun Kazami: Shut up  
\- Dan Kuso: DUDE ALICE'S PHONE BROKE 2 WEEKS AGO AND SHE HASN'T REPLACED IT SINCE  
\- Dan Kuso: THERE'S NO WAY IN HELL THAT SHE WOULD BE ABLE TO TEXT YOU BECAUSE SHE HASN'T SENT OUT THAT CUTE LITTLE EMAIL MESSAGE SHE USUALLY DOES AFTER HER PHONE BREAKS TO ALL OF US SO WE KNOW HER NEW PHONE NUMBER  
\- Dan Kuso: CASE. FUCKING. CLOSED  
\- Shun Kazami: Wait what email  
\- Dan Kuso: exactly man you don't even have an email app installed on your phone i saw it before you left  
\- Dan Kuso: i can't believe you're this clueless  
\- Dan Kuso: and if you're about to tell me again that i can't prove you're at her house, i can still email her and ask her if you're there with her  
\- Dan Kuso: i'm not even with you in real life and i can tell you're fking steaming omg

He was gripping the phone so hard he swore he could hear something cracking.

\- Shun Kazami: You dipshit  
\- Dan Kuso: ok wait a minute tho  
\- Dan Kuso: if you're at alice's house  
\- Dan Kuso: then does this mean you guys have had sex already  
\- Shun Kazami: Go to hell  
\- Dan Kuso: omg dude if you have you are so lucky  
\- Shun Kazami: I HAVEN'T HAD SEX WITH ALICE.  
\- Dan Kuso: i kinda wanna ask her  
\- Shun Kazami: DON'T  
\- Dan Kuso: i mean, the question might catch her offguard but she'd probably come around to answering  
\- Shun Kazami: I SWEAR TO GOD DAN  
\- Dan Kuso: "ohh Dan it was crazy! i've never done anything like that in my entire life! it was just hard and fast enough, and h-he... it was so amazing..."  
\- Shun Kazami: I will actually kill you  
\- Dan Kuso: don't pretend you wouldn't wanna hear that from her

"Shun?"

The first words said to him that day that were actually spoken caught him completely by surprise. Just as he dropped his phone out of his sweaty, shaky hands, he also let out a somewhat bizarre grunty-gasp that sounded like a terrified panda. He would save the embarrassment for later, however; because Alice was inside and at the door.

She looked just as beautiful as she did any other day; if not a bit dazed. Today, her hair was pulled back, tied into a round bun embellished with a small separate braid looped around its base; and a few loose wavy locks of hair framed the right side of her face. The usual glint in her eye wasn't as strong as it was usually, her expression slightly tired, and for some reason, her cheeks seemed extra rosy. She was dressed in a blue denim jacket with a white frilly button-up top underneath and a tiered ruffled burgundy red skirt that reached her knees, her height lengthened thanks to pair of black platform boots.

Alice gazed at him from where she stood, her black leather purse hanging by it's strap in the grasp of her hands. She smiled kindly, her lips curling sweetly, but her eyes seemed to be caught by Shun's phone, once in his hands now nestling in his lap.

"Hi there! I just got back from grocery shopping. I didn't disturb you, did I?" she asked.

"O-Oh, hi Alice." Shun stammered out a hasty reply and returned the smile. "Welcome back..."

"Oh my gosh, you found your phone!" Alice hung her purse on a coat tree by the door and hurried over to the couch, leaning over towards him. Her tone sounded more alarmed now. "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you..." she apologized. "I found it when I first washed your clothes, and then I guess I forgot about it and left it on the shelf in the washing room..."

"No, no, it's fine," Shun told her quickly. "I actually just remembered about it today, so I'm glad you didn't accidentally wash it or something."

Alice laughed. "I am too. It looks like it cost a fortune!"

"Y-Yeah, it did," Shun said nervously.

"Anyway, the grocery bags are outside, so I'm just gonna bring them in and put everything away in the kitchen, okay?" Alice straightened her back and stood straight up tall.

"Oh, do you need help?" Shun asked her.

Alice smiled, shaking her head. "No, of course not! Your job is to stay put on that couch." Realizing he was sitting up, Alice then pushed on his shoulder with the palm of her hand and he fell back, sinking into the couch cushions. "H-Hey!" he protested, but Alice had already walked towards the door, only to turn around and flash him a flirty grin.

As Alice began bringing in more grocery bags into the house, Shun tried to pry his eyes off her back as he kept attempting to distract himself by texting Dan. One moment when Alice was bending over to lift up a particularly heavier bag, Shun's gaze accidentally fell on her skirt and he thought he saw a flash of color; one that definitely didn't match the skirt's odd shade of red. Suddenly he was reminded of the delusions Dan had brought him regarding him doing it with a cute girl, and he turned his head away, almost too abruptly, and sent Dan a series of angry text messages about how he was going to get back at him later.

\- Dan Kuso: dude what is alice wearing  
\- Shun Kazami: That is absolutely none of your business  
\- Dan Kuso: i bet she's wearing a skirt  
\- Dan Kuso: it's one of those short ones right  
\- Dan Kuso: runo and julie have like fifty of em each  
\- Dan Kuso: don't worry man; i'm sending a gust of wind to blow through into that heated house of yours  
\- Shun Kazami: AlriGHT THAT'S IT JUST GO DIE IN A HOLE  
\- Dan Kuso: so i got it right?

_Shut up_.

* * *

**That was it, I guess XD I love Dan and Shun's friendship too much, it just had to be included... Let me know what you guys think! Since Winter Break is almost over, I can't promise a new chapter to come out right away, but I'll try to get a rough idea for the next chapter in the meantime. **

**Thanks for the reviews, please feel free to leave a new one, if you feel so inclined, and thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: Hello, friends! As usual, I am extremely late with the new chapter, but better late than never... I want to take this story in a different direction, just because I don't want the story to get too boring if it keeps going the same way it's going. I'm sorry that it's a bit disorganized (although to begin with, I never really had any sort of plot laid out for this story, it started out as a one-shot). I hope the information I used was accurate XD **

**Anyways, enjoy! **

* * *

Shun awoke to the smell of pancakes as he uncurled himself from his blankets on his little couch bed. He blinked the sleep out of his eyes, resting his gaze on the opened windows, letting in the fresh smell of spring inside the room, as well as the warm sunlight. Pushing the hair away from his face, he craned his neck and lifted his head up over his pillow, in the direction of the kitchen nearby. A lemony scent was wafting in.

No doubt about it; Alice was busy cooking away.

"Are you awake yet, Shun?" Alice called from the room. He could somehow hear her over the sound of the oven and pancake-flipping combined; her soft voice just carried so nicely.

"Yeah, I just got up," he called back, shouting extra loud to make sure she heard.

"Great! Would you mind coming in the dining room in a few minutes for breakfast? I have some important news to tell you!"

Shun flopped his head back onto his pillow, grimacing only slightly. Ugh, getting up in a few minutes? He could maybe get up in an hour on a regular day if he was lucky. "Sure!" he yelled back.

After about five minutes, Shun was able to will himself out of bed. But before going to the dining room, he made a quick trip to the restroom, mainly to take a leak but also to take a good look at himself in the mirror and fix up his messy hair so he looked at least somewhat presentable. Eventually, he made his way into the dining room, where Alice had already set the table with their food.

Today, it was pancakes, evidently. But he noticed little dark specks showing up inside of them, even if they were dressed in thick syrup and topped with strawberries. He bent over to get a better look.

"They're lemon poppy seed pancakes," Alice explained, coming in from behind him and brushing against his side. "I thought just making regular pancakes wouldn't be too special, so I tried out a new recipe." She went around to the opposite end of the table and put her hands on her chair, smiling meaningfully at him. "Tell me what you think of them, okay?"

Unlike most mornings, Alice looked pretty well-dressed. Usually she was still wearing a nightgown, typically a sleeveless, white frilly one that made her look like a princess (it happened to be Shun's favorite). But this morning, she was in regular clothing; today it was a dress, a strapless one that didn't quite make her bust out on the front, but instead revealed a pair of lithe shoulders and a structured collar bone. The pattern was checkered, with blue and white squares covering every inch of the fabric, the skirt ending above her knees and an attached sash tied into a bow on the back. Her thick orange hair was pulled back into a ponytail, a matching blue and white checkered bow accessorizing it. Her brown eyes glimmered at him, her pink lips curved into a smile.

"You seem dressed up today," Shun said instead, sitting down in his chair.

A pink glow rushed to Alice's cheeks. "I guess I just wasn't feeling as lazy this morning," she joked. Shun gave a small smile in return as she sat down with him.

"So, you said you have some news for me?" Shun began, stuffing his mouth with some pancake.

"Oh, I sure do!" Alice replied enthusiastically, putting her fork down for a moment so she could let her hands so some of the talking. "I was going to tell you way earlier when you first got here several days ago."

"What's up?" he asked.

"Did I ever remember to tell you that I was still in school, Shun?"

Shun stopped eating, lowering his wrists to the edge of the table. Nope, this was definitely news to him. "What?"

Alice smiled, giving him that sweet grin of hers that gave his stomach butterflies. "I guess I never told you, did I… Silly me," she giggled, laughing at herself as she took another bite of her pancake.

"Wait a minute, you've been in school this entire time while I was here?" Shun demanded, incredulous.

"Well, I haven't had school this week," she corrected. "You just happened to show up during Spring Break; but I start classes again on Monday."

"How come you never told me?" he sighed. "I figured this entire time you were on some sort of gap year. Your house is so far away from town I thought you just did some kind of homeschooling…"

Alice laughed. "That kind of was what I was doing for a bit of time; but three years ago, when I was fourteen, Grandpa found some new science projects to work on at his laboratory. The details are sort of complicated, but basically there was a lot of research he had to put into it, at least a few years. So he told me that he'd sign me up for regular school, that way he wouldn't have to worry about looking out for me."

Shun frowned. "You never told me why you didn't tell me you're in school, you know."

She tilted her head to the side. "Well… I was busy taking care of you…?" She phrased it like she was contemplating the reasoning behind it for the first time. She cracked a smile. "I guess it goes to show how much I make school a priority."

Shun chuckled lightly, but he still came off as concerned. "But, you're still gonna go to school this week, right?"

Alice pulled a corner of her lip up, doubtful. "I don't really know," she said. "I thought that maybe I'd take a couple of days of to spend some time with you. I wouldn't want to leave you here alone…"

"Are you serious?!" Shun sighed, exasperated. "Don't take days off of school just for me. Education is super important these days. I can just stay here, maybe even do some of your chores so that way you can do your homework."

Alice was quiet. He wondered if the sudden silence was something he had brought on himself, and it was embarrassing him: he didn't want to make things awkward, after all. "You didn't have any homework over Spring Break, did you? Since you start tomorrow, I can take care of things around here. I kinda know how to cook too."

"Shun, how old are you?" Alice asked calmly. Her pretty brown eyes, like small, glittering pools, stared through narrowed lids at him, prepared to analyze his next response.

Shun paused. Was this some kind of test? "Um, 17?" He didn't sound so sure of himself.

"I see," she murmured. Shun felt his hand twitch; her lowered voice reminded him of melted chocolate falling down slowly like in a Ghirardelli commercial.

"And what are most 17 year olds doing in Japan?"

Shun gulped.

Shit, she caught him.

He bit his lip cautiously. "Going to school?"

Alice's lips curled into an amused smile. "And where are you, right now, Shun; a 17 year old high school student?"

Shun sighed, trying his hardest not to get frustrated. "Moscow."

"A-HA!" Alice lifted herself up from her seat and leaned forward, spreading out her fingers and pinching Shun's cheek. He dropped his fork and knife, blushing furiously as he put a hand on her slender wrist, feeling her fingertips dig into his skin. "Don't you dare tell me that I shouldn't skip my classes, when you're the one who's busy fooling around in another country so he doesn't have to go to his!"

Shun covered his mouth with his other hand, hoping the pancake inside wouldn't show. "Who said I was fooling around?" he protested, pulling on her wrist to make her hand move away. Alice grinned, her face flushing slightly at his comment, her eyes sparkling.

She finally let go of his cheek, so Shun let go of her, while she seated herself back down in her chair. Shun rubbed the side of his face tentatively to try to even out the pain, remembering the feeling of her skin clamped in his palm.

Alice looked him back in the eyes again, staring pro-longingly at him. "Why did you really leave Japan, Shun?" she asked, her voice edged with a small sense of despair. "What made you want to abandon your home town and come all the way over here?"

Abandon. Shun had never really liked that word. His father had abandoned him after his mom got sick. His mom had abandoned him once she moved to the hospital. He had abandoned his friends when they needed him the most. He wished that word had never existed, so it wouldn't remind him of all the guilt and sadness he had built up inside of him over the years.

He let out a shaky breath before he began his reply.

"Alice, there's something really important that I have to tell you. That I have to tell everyone. It's a secret I've been hiding for only a few weeks, but it's something that everyone would freak out about if they heard." Shun paused, realizing he was getting too close to telling the truth. "But I can't tell everyone right now, because now is not the time. I figured most of our friends in Japan would find out over time, and I… I know this sounds selfish, but I didn't want to have to deal with it. I needed to think."

She was silent, her eyebrows somewhat furrowed as she gazed back at him. Their eyes were locked.

"I know it's not the answer that you deserve, but that's the reason why I'm here," Shun continued. "I don't want you to think that I just decided to randomly leave Japan and come out here because I was in a bad mood. There is actually something going on. But at the moment, it's something I can't give away." He bowed his head low. "I'm sorry."

Alice remained quiet. Shun tried to examine any changes in expression on her gentle, beautiful face, but he could see none. Nothing but concern and worry were the only emotions to be seen. Then she took out her hand and reached over the table, placing it on his. Shun's body warmed up like an oven.

"Shun, I care about you," she told him. "And I'm here for you. I understand that your privacy is really important, but if you ever need to tell me anything, I'm willing to listen." Her thumb lightly stroked the side of his hand.

"Thank you," Shun responded. "I mean it so much."

"I'll tell you what." Alice removed her hand (Shun's body cooled down) and leaned forward over the table. "I'll talk to my teachers at school and tell them that you're my correspondent who's visiting from Japan. If I can, I'll get them to give you your own schedule so that way you won't have to always be following me around campus. That way, you won't have to be alone at home, and then if you need me, I'll be nearby."

"Are you sure?" Shun asked. "You'd go through all the trouble just for me."

Alice smiled. Her rosy cheeks and glowing eyes could light up any room. "It's trouble worth going through."

* * *

**So that was it! Let me know what you think of the whole school idea; it'd help me out immensely so that way I have an idea of the "right track" that I'm trying to go with. Please feel free to leave a review, thanks so much for the favorites, and thanks for reading! **


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